Xi kicks off highly-anticipated US visit in grand welcome

WIDE EXPECTATIONS

It is a very important visit, coming at a very important time and against the backdrop of a particularly difficult global political landscape, said Roland Henwood, a lecturer and political commentator at the Department of Political Sciences at the University of Pretoria.

The significance of the visit extends well beyond bilateral ties, as what happens between China and the United States affects the whole world, said Henwood.

Noting that the two leaders have a good relationship and hold regular contacts and good communication, he said that it is vital to have sustained engagement at the presidential level to provide strategic direction and stability for the bilateral ties.

Erastus Mwencha, former deputy chairperson of the African Union Commission, said the state visit sends an important signal — diplomacy remains available as an instrument for managing differences and preventing miscalculation.

It should also be read as part of a sequence rather than an isolated event — the Busan meeting, Trump's state visit to China in May, and now this reciprocal visit — each building the kind of sustained contact that a single meeting cannot provide, said Mwencha.

Beyond high-level diplomacy, experts pointed to several areas where continued China-US cooperation could have broader international implications.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is one such area. China and the United States have the technological capabilities and international influence to play an important role in addressing the potential risks posed by AI, said Pascal Sery, a financial expert and former member of the National Assembly of Cote d'Ivoire.

They can strengthen dialogue and cooperation on AI safety, governance, ethics and international rules, and work toward broader international consensus, he said.

Abu Bakr al-Deeb, an advisor at the Cairo-based Arab Center for Research and Studies, said counternarcotics is one of the areas where cooperation between China and the United States can produce very practical results.

Drug trafficking and other forms of transnational crime do not stop at national borders, so countries have a common interest in sharing information and coordinating their efforts, he said.

There have already been concrete examples of cooperation this year as Chinese and US authorities have worked together on drug-related cases, including cases involving trafficking and new psychoactive substances, he added.

Experts also pointed to the broader role the two countries can play in addressing global challenges. Cavince Adhere, a Kenya-based international relations scholar, said the two countries, as the world's two largest economies, have a responsibility to reduce friction and help safeguard the stability of the global economy and supply chains.

Achieving stability of their relationship is "a public good," he said. "Reduced US-China friction lowers the risk of global supply chain fragmentation."